Tom Cruise Believes In Aliens, Wants To Go To Outer Space, But Is It That Surprising?

U.S. actor Tom Cruise arrives for the world premiere of his movie "Oblivion" in Buenos Aires, March 26.
Reuters/Marcos Brindicc

Tom Cruise made some comments about believing in aliens at the Moscow premiere of his latest movie, “Oblivion.” The 50-year-old actor said he also wanted to go to space, and, while Cruise’s comments may seem outlandish, he is not alone in his beliefs.

“I don’t think you can actually count it out,” he said, according to UK tabloid the Sun. “It might be a little arrogant to think we were the only ones in all the galaxies throughout the universe, but I’ve never met one!”

In addition to his belief in aliens, Cruise also mentioned his desire to go to outer space, saying, “Who wouldn’t want to do something like that?” Cruise said he would want to wait until other people have gone into space but the adventure has been a dream of his since childhood.

Cruise is a Scientologist, and the church’s beliefs in regards to aliens are rather curious. One of the core tenets of Scientology involves Xenu, dictator of the Galactic Confederacy, who brought billions of people from his overpopulated confederacy to Earth, placed them around volcanoes and then blew them up using hydrogen bombs.

These beings became body thetans, which are similar to souls and have been around for trillions of years. Each person born on Earth is covered in clusters of body thetans, and, unlike thetans, these clusters cause daily problems and stress. In order to remove the clusters of body thetans, Scientologists must undergo audits.

While the Xenu story may seem far-fetched, Cruise’s belief in aliens should not be. In a 2012 study, conducted by Kelton Research, up to 80 million Americans believe UFOs are real. The study was based on a national sample involving 1,114 Americans age 18 and older. That number specifically involves the concept of UFOs, and the number could be larger when discussing the general idea that there is some form of intelligent life in the universe.

Cruise’s dream to enter outer space is set to be a reality for other celebrities. Ashton Kutcher, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are just a few names who have reportedly spent $200,000 for a spot aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, HuffPo notes.